


Space

by frecklesarechocolate



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Prompt Fic, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-11 13:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frecklesarechocolate/pseuds/frecklesarechocolate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel doesn't understand why Dean's need for personal space has changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Space

Dean has always talked about personal space. Needing his personal space, needing Cas to recognize that Dean doesn’t like it when Cas is inside his personal bubble.

And Cas has done is best to respect that need.

Which is why, when they finally do get together as a couple - and Cas does think of it as  _finally,_ because he’s known how he’s felt about Dean since he pulled Dean back from Zachariah’s horrific version of the future - when they finally do get together, Cas is confused. 

Because apparently, Dean’s need for personal space  _no longer applies._  It crept up on Cas, really, and if he thinks back over the last couple of years, he thinks that maybe that unmarked region where Dean’s personal space ends and Cas’s begins got smaller and smaller over time. 

But now Dean’s need for personal space seems to have been completely obliterated. Cas wakes up in the morning, and he is pinned underneath Dean’s octopus arms and legs, Dean’s face smooshed into Cas’s shoulder or neck. Dean will slide into a booth in a diner, and when Cas sits next to him,  _trying_ to respect Dean’s personal space, Dean will either pull Cas closer, or he will scoot next to Cas so that they are touching from shoulder to hip and thigh to knee. When they’re sitting on the couch, watching movies, Dean will sling his arm over the back of the couch and rest his fingers on the nape of Cas’s neck, his thumb rubbing slowly back and forth, sending shivers down Cas’s spine.

Cas doesn’t mind any of this. As a matter of fact, he quite likes all of these casual and not-so-casual touches from Dean. He just doesn’t understand where it all is coming from. Dean had been so  _adamant_ about Cas respecting his personal space, and now it’s as if that whole entire series of conversations  _never happened._

Cas is sitting up in bed reading one night when Dean comes in fresh from his shower, his hair still a bit wet. He’s got pajama pants on, because it is a bit cool in the room, but no t-shirt, and Cas lowers his book to better appreciate the view.

He has always appreciated the view when it comes to Dean. 

Dean notices Cas noticing him, and smirks as he runs the towel once more over his hair. He climbs into bed next to Cas and closes the book Cas was reading, places it on the nightstand and manhandles Cas into a prone position. Then he pulls the covers up over the two of them, tangles their legs together and settles his arms around Cas.

“Dean?” Cas asks after the fidgeting and shuffling dies down.

“Mm?” Dean replies sleepily. It’d been a long day, they’d been up at Rufus’s cabin picking up a few things, and they’d driven back to the bunker without really stopping. 

“Dean,” Cas says again, and he prods at Dean’s shoulder.

Dean opens one eye and glares up at the angel. “Cas, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to go to sleep here.”

Cas huffs a big sigh. “What happened to personal space, Dean?”

Dean opens his other eye and frowns. “What do you mean? Do you want me to move, or…” he slides away from Cas.

“No, I mean…” Cas closes his eyes. “I’m just confused, Dean. You said that you needed your personal space. But now…” he waves his hand between the two of them, trying not to think about the fact that now there  _is_ space between them, space that hasn’t been there since Cas threw caution to the wind and kissed Dean and Dean enthusiastically wound his arms around Cas’s neck and pulled him in to deepen the kiss.

The worried look on Dean’s face eases a little. “Oh. Well.” He scrubs his face and looks a little embarrassed, unable to meet Cas’s eyes. “I just.” Dean licks his lips. “I like being near you.” This last comes out in a rush, and Dean’s voice is small; he’s certain that explaining what he wants will get him exactly the opposite.

“But I thought…” Cas says, and now he’s the one frowning.

“I know, Cas, that was just. That was before.” Dean rubs the back of his neck. “Look, I’m not real big on  _moments_ , okay? But, I just feel… better when I’m close to you. When I can hold onto you.”

“Oh,” Cas says, and try as he might, he can’t stop the smile that appears on his face. Dean mirrors it with a smile of his own.

“So, it’s okay?” Dean asks quietly.

Cas rolls his eyes and pulls Dean close to him, wrapping his arms around Dean. He kisses Dean. “It’s very okay.”

Dean snuggles down into the position he’d been in before, with his cheek lying on Cas’s chest. “Now can we go to sleep? I’m fuckin’ exhausted.”

“Good night, Dean.”

“Night, Cas.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted on my [Tumblr](http://deanhugchester.tumblr.com) and LiveJournal.


End file.
